Sensex loses 110 points, Nifty ends below 7650; Infosys up 3%

03:55 pm Rupee check
The rupee is trading at 59.28/29 versus its close of 59.29/30 on Tuesday, tracking mixed Asian currencies and weakness in the domestic sharemarket.

Traders expect the pair to trade in a range of 59.25 to 59.45 for the day.

Traders will continue to monitor foreign fund flows into the debt and equity markets for near-term direction, while consumer price inflation data due on Thursday will also be watched, though a large impact on the foreign exchange market is unlikely.

03:45 pm Nifty at 8000?
Rajesh Cheruvu, chief investment officer- India, Royal Bank of Scotland NV believes that a decisive electoral mandate has led to an 'all-out equities' approach in the market.

He further says that this political mandate will result in return of higher growth rates.

Furthermore, Cheruvu is bullish on Asian Paints, Bata, Cummins, Crisil.

"For now we think probably market could inch up towards 8000 that is in terms of forward multiples of 16 multiples before December. But the way it is actually grinding, probably we might test such 8000 levels during pre-budget rally itself," he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

03:35 pm Market closing
After hitting record high, the market ended in negative terrain in a volatile trading session. The Nifty managed to end above 7600, down 29.55 points at 7626.85. The Sensex was down 109.80 points at 25473.89. About 1616 shares advanced, 1516 shares declined, and 70 shares were unchanged.

IT stocks remained leaders in today's trade with Infosys and TCS gaining 2-3 percent each. Hero MotoCorp, Dr Reddy's Labs and Bajaj Auto were other gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were Tata Power, Hindalco, Coal India and BHEL.

03:20 pm Houseview
Deutsche Bank upgraded Kotak Mahindra Bank to 'buy' from 'hold' and increased the price target to Rs 1,080 from Rs 770.

High operating leverage in banking, broking and other sectors is driving strong earnings, while investments in its distribution network is resulting in sustained growth, Deutsche said in a note.

"The stock being a big beneficiary of capital market revival, with benefits accruing across business segments," it said.

Deutsche has increased earnings estimates for Kotak by 7 percent for FY15 and 14 percent for FY16 and expects consolidated earnings to grow at a 28 percent CAGR over FY14-17.

03:10 pm Powerless Delhi
Despite Union power minister assuring to solve the ongoing electricity shortage in Delhi, the crisis has exposed the chinks in the power sector. Speaking about it to CNBC-TV18, Shakti Sinha said Delhi's electricity scene was marred by political pressure, so much so that many projects remain pending till date. He believes the Delhi power situation can be brought under control by replacing outdated equipment and checking power theft. The former power secretary said power distribution companies are the weakest link in Delhi electricity system.

He also cautioned that the situation can be worse in rest of India despite the fact that most states have now imposed higher tariff. But the overhang of the past is too wide and may take two-three years to break even.

Meanwhile, Rahul Modi of Antique stock broking, who tracks power sector closely, says the distribution side has been a lag. An expected rational policy in power sector will see the next leg of growth coming from the distribution space.

3:00pm Europe falls
Stocks slipped from near recent highs while the euro retreated towards a four-month low in the wake of upbeat US economic data and the European Central Bank's monetary easing.

Profit warnings from Germany's Lufthansa and France's Vallourec dented investors' appetite for equities following a sharp rally, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares losing 0.3 percent.

The euro slipped across the board, with the dollar's yield advantage over the single currency widening.

It fell 0.1 percent to USD 1.3536, nearing a four-month low of $1.3503 set last Thursday shortly after the ECB cut interest rates to record lows and took its deposit rate into negative territory for the first time, reports Reuters.

2:55pm Unitech down 6%
Unitech says the interest of two of the affiliates of Unitech in 4 of these 6 IT SEZ/Parks stands transferred to an independent third party. These 4 SEZs are the most mature in terms of their development status, it adds.

As part of this transaction, certain affiliates of Unitech will continue to manage and develop these assets to ensure that there is no impact on tenants and other stakeholders, it says.

Earlier, Unitech Corporate Parks PLC had said it would sell its entire interest in the portfolio of 6 IT SEZ / Parks in India.

2:52pm L&T Finance Holdings OFS
An offer for sale issue of L&T Finance Holdings has received bids for 1.2 crore shares as against issue size of 2.75 crore shares till 2:35 pm. Indicative price stands at Rs 74.78 apiece as against floor price of Rs 74.

Promoter Larsen and Toubro intends to sell 0.96 percent stake in the company through OFS.

2:50pm May trade deficit data
India's trade deficit in May widened to USD 11.23 billion from USD 10.1 billion in April, data released on Wednesday showed. However, exports clocked a 9.4 percent jump month-on-month to USD 28 billion. Imports in May stood at USD 39.23 billion, higher  than USD 35.7 billion seen in April.

Gold imports fell 72 percent to USD 2.19 billion since May 2013 but jumped from USD 1.76 billion in April. But analysts brushed it off as a seasonal variation. The commerce secretary said the ministry is looking to rationalise gold import duty and the gold import regime should see a change as early as next month. Currently, India imports gold under 80:20 scheme.

2:40pm Nectar Lifesciences up 6%
Nectar Lifesciences has received second European cGMP (current good manufacturing practices) approval for its Cephalasporin Finished Dosage Forms (FDF) manufacturing facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh followed by successful inspection by the Portugal Authority - National Authority of Medicines and Health Products in July 2013.

"This approval will facilitate exports to the lucrative generic drug markets of Europe and this certification opens up lot of opportunities for contract manufacturing for Nectar Life for European customers," the company says in its filing.

2:30pm Reliance Communications in focus
Telecom operator Reliance Communications has extended 3G services to 18 more circles across the country.

At present, the company has the largest 3G footprint in the country with a presence in 13 circles. "Together, these circles account for 80 percent incremental smartphone sales in the country," RCom's Chief Executive Officer for Consumer Business, Gurdeep Singh said in a statement.

RCom's 3G service will now be available in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and UP East. The company already has permit for 3G services in 13 service areas, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir, reports PTI .

2:25pm Tata Motors global sales
Tata Motors JLR's global retail sales increased 20 percent (up 4 percent month-on-month) to 38,831 units compard to same period last year.

2:20pm Interview
Expecting Arvind to grow by 25 percent in FY15, company's CMD Sanjay Lalbhai is confident of scaling up their brands and retail business in the next 3-5 years while operating at a cent percent capacity.

With China's exports standing at USD 276 billion as against India's exports at USD 40 billion, Lalbhai believes the latter need to build textile businesses with scale that can be achieved by tackling issues such as labour and infrastructure.

Retailing of fabrics have been weak for the last two years but Indian textiles sustain to be competitive even with rupee at 59 per dollar, he adds.

To retain domestic market share by reducing debt, the textile major has land parcels that can be monetised, he says in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

2:10pm Market Expert
Rajesh Kothari, MD, AlfAccurate Advisors is bullish on the market over the long-term and believes Sensex could reach 46000 by March 2017 and Nifty would be 70-80 percent higher than current levels.

2:00pm The market remained under pressure due to profit-taking but the Nifty managed to hold the 7600 level. The Sensex lost 128.14 points to 25455.55 and the Nifty fell 44.30 points to 7612.10.

Biggest losers were Tata Power, Hindalco Industries, BHEL, NTPC, Coal India, DLF and Jindal Steel that tumbled 3-5 percent. Reliance Industries, ITC, Tata Motors, ONGC, L&T, HUL and Bharti Airtel dropped 1-2 percent.

However, Infosys and Kotak Mahindra Bank rallied over 3 percent followed by TCS, Hero Motocorp, Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints with 0.8-1.8 percent.

In the midcap space, Amtek India, State Bank of Mysore, Britannia Industries, State Bank of Travancore and State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur topped the buying list, rising 7-15 percent. However, TTK Prestige, HDIL, IFCI, Shree Renuka Sugars and Edelweiss Financial lost 6-8 percent.

1:50 pm Powerless Delhi: Despite Union power minister assuring to solve the ongoing electricity shortage in Delhi, the crisis has exposed the chinks in the power sector. Speaking about it to CNBC-TV18, Shakti Sinha said Delhi's electricity scene was marred by political pressure, so much so that many projects remain pending till date. He believes the Delhi power situation can be brought under control by replacing outdated equipment and checking power theft. The former power secretary said power distribution companies are the weakest link in Delhi electricity system.
He also cautioned that the situation can be worse in rest of India despite the fact that most states have now imposed higher tariff. But the overhang of the past is too wide and may take two-three years to break even.

Meanwhile, Rahul Modi of Antique stock broking, who tracks power sector closely, says the distribution side has been a lag. An expected rational policy in power sector will see the next leg of growth coming from the distribution space.

1:40 pm Market outlook: Rajesh Kothari, MD, AlfAccurate Advisors is bullish on the market over the long-term and believes Sensex could reach 46000 by March 2017 and Nifty would be 70-80 percent higher than current levels.

On its way to Sensex at 46,000, the brokerage house expects midcaps like Maharashtra Seamless, CARE, Indian Hotels to do well. On the largecap side, it would look at companies where equity dilution is less.

According to him, for Maharashtra Seamless, the EV to EBITDA on future forward basis could expand significantly and the stock could become a multibagger in 3 years.

1:30 pm Rationalise gold import? India needs to "rationalise" duty on gold imports, which plunged 72 percent in May, Trade Secretary Rajeev Kher said.

Following a steep rise in the country's current account deficit, India raised the gold import tax last year to 10 percent from 4 percent. Separately, Kher said his ministry was not considering raising import duty on sugar, as the matter had not been brought to his notice.

Last week Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said India will examine raising import tax on sugar to support local prices and help mills clear dues to cane growers.

1:20 pm Buzzing: Shares of Sesa Sterlite fell 3.5 percent intraday. CLSA has lowered recommendation by one notch to outperform from buy with a target price of Rs 330 but it stays constructive.

The brokerage believes that positive election result has raised hopes of the Hindustan Zinc/Balco stake sale as well as regulatory relief for Sesa's multiple un-commissioned projects. ''The former trigger is a near certainty and could add Rs 20 per share to valuations, while the latter, too, has decent probability, and could boost valuations by a hefty Rs 116 per share,'' it said in a report.

The market retreated after hitting fresh record high. The Sensex is down 15.29 points at 25568.40 and the Nifty down 9.50 points at 7646.90. About 1640 shares have advanced, 1304 shares declined, and 77 shares are unchanged.

IT pack leaders Infosys and TCS are up 2-4 percent each. SBI, Cipla and GAIL are other top gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are BHEL, NTPC, Tata Power, Hindalco and HUL.

May trade deficit rises to a 10-month high at USD 11.23 billion dollars versus USD 10 billion in April. Exports jump by 12.4 percent and imports fall by 11.41 percent. Gold imports dip by 72 percent at USD 2.19 billion.

The rupee is steady in the absence of concrete global cues. Dollar demand from oil importers may weigh slightly but likely dollar sales by foreign banks may support.

Meanwhile, global cues are listless in the absence of any key triggers.

12:59pm Interview
Auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) released sales data for the month of May, showing signs of recovery in the sector. On the back of excise duty cut, total auto sales grew by over 13 percent to around 17 lakh units during the month.

Vikram Kirloskar, President, SIAM believes the sentiment in the auto sector has considerably improved with more footfall seen in the showrooms. He expects a flat to minor increase in passenger car sales in FY15.

Stable government and excise duty cut has boosted market sentiment coupled with hopes of a GST roll out, causing a growth in car sales after 8 months.

Although there have been signs of recovery, concerns about commercial vehicle sector degrowth still remain, says Kirloskar in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

12:50pm FY15 divestment plan
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given his approval to the divestment plan for the fiscal year FY15. He has kept the interim Budget divestment target unchanged at Rs 36,925 crore.

The key sectors for divestment this year are power, coal, steel, oil and gas. Companies that have received the nod for 10 percent divestment are Container Corporation, Coal India, SAIL, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), Manganese Ore India (MOIL).

Furthermore, the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) initial public offering (IPO) is likely to go through this year.

12:40pm FII View
Mahesh Nandurkar, CLSA says most discussions about the Gujarat model have ignored Mr Modi's emphasis on agriculture. ''Agriculture accounts for 30 percent of the Gujarat state GDP outperformance over the national average. Investment in agri infrastructure (irrigation & storage), better availability of power, imparting of technical knowhow to farmers, better rural connectivity have driven 30-300 percent increase in yields over the last decade,'' he adds.

According to him, potential extension of the same to other parts of the country augurs well for long term food inflation outlook, cement consumption and further accentuates the need for higher coal production. ''Consumer companies should also benefit in the long-run,'' he adds.

12:30pm Nikkei closes up
Japanese shares bounced off a one-week low supported by news that Japan will retain its status as the only developed market in the region in MSCI stock indexes, checking any potential knee-jerk rotation out of Tokyo equities.

MSCI announced that it was removing South Korea and Taiwan from its review list for reclassification to developed markets.

The Nikkei gained 0.5 percent to 15,069.48, reports Reuters.

12:20pm United Bank of India up 3%
RBI has allowed the bank to consider loan proposals up to Rs 200 crore taking exposure to AAA rate PSUs and corporate borrowers subject to ensuring credit-deposit (CD) ratio not beyond 70 percent and capital to risk assets ratio (CRAR) not below 9 percent as on June 30, 2014, it said in a statement.

Earlier, the Kolkata-based public sector bank was barred from lending more than Rs 10 crore to any single borrower as its bad assets increased and capital adequacy ratio fell.

12:10pm Market Expert
Investors are eyeing the Budget document, to be out in the first half of July, and the rain gods for cues on which way the market is likely to move for the rest of the year. That's the word coming in from Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO, Envision Capital.

If all goes well, Shah says the Nifty may even surpass levels of 8400-8500 in 12-18 months.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks remained under pressure amid volatility after May trade deficit data. Trade deficit increased 11.2 percent month-on-month (down 42 percent year-on-year) to USD 11.23 billion.

Imports rose 10 percent (down 11.4 percent Y-o-Y) to USD 39.23 billion and exports jumped 9.3 percent (up 12.4 percent Y-o-Y) to USD 28 billion compared to last month.

The Sensex declined 89.73 points to 25493.96 and the Nifty fell 28.95 points to 7627.45. About 1619 shares have advanced, 1289 shares declined, and 68 shares are unchanged.

NTPC, Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, BHEL, HUL and DLF dropped 2-4 percent while Infosys gained more than 4 percent. SBI, TCS, Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs and Kotak Mahindra Bank rallied 1-3 percent.

12:00 pm Interview: South-based India Cement is planning to ramp up production, anticipating a demand pick up under the new government. Cement prices have already gone up in most markets by Rs 20-30 per bag.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, N Srinivasan, VC & MD, India Cements said that the cement maker is looking to consolidate its cement capacity. As part of that effort, it plans to merge Trinetra Cements and Trishul Concrete Products with India Cements to bring operations under one company.

The cement industry has been witnessing sluggish growth rates for the past several years, something which Srinivasan hopes will change under the new regime.

India Cements has a capacity ultisation of around 70-71 percent, which it plans to improve in the coming days. The company is also planning to reduce its Rs 3000 crore debt.

11:50 am Market check: Soon after hitting record high, the market slipped into red. Massive selling in metals and FMCG stocks drag benchmanrk indices. IT is the biggest gainer while buying is seen in banks and pharma stocks.

11:40 am Monsoon worries: Ashok Gulati, Chair Professor-Agriculture, ICRIER India feels agriculture growth in the country could collapse to 2 percent or even lower because of poor monsoon. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Gulati said the government needs to be prepared to liquidate 10-15 million tonnes of cereal.

Food prices could rise sharply in November-December if the government does not take remedial actions, he cautioned.

He also said onion prices in Maharashtra could surge again this year, if the state received poor rainfall.

11:30 am Big divestment: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given his approval to the divestment plan for the fiscal year FY15. He has kept the interim Budget divestment target unchanged at Rs 36,925 crore.

The interim Budget had set the target for minority stake sales in government-owned companies at Rs 37,000 crore, while residual stake sale, or stake sale in non- government companies is slated at Rs 20,000 crore.

The key sectors for divestment this year are power, coal, steel, oil and gas. But the department has added a new name for the to-be-divested companies- Container Corporation- that will be divested upto 10 percent.

Other companies that have received the nod for 10 percent divestment are- Coal India, SAIL, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL).

11:20 am Buzzing: Shares of CORE Education hit 5 percent upper circuit at Rs 19.84 per share intraday as investors seem to be impressed about its revival strategy plans. The company is planning to dispose non-core assets and realty property worth Rs 400 crore.

''The board has approved appointment of a leading real estate consultant for developing or disposing off non-core assets and real estate properties of the Company, currently having a value of approximately Rs 400 crore,'' it said in a filling to BSE.

11:10 am Market outlook: Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO, Envision Capital says the Nifty may even surpass levels of 8400-8500 in 12-18 months.

Shah is bullish on IT stocks and feels the recent rupee appreciation hasn't affected the sector's growth path. He says risk-reward is highly favourable towards Infosys, which is his top pick amongst the largecap IT space.

From the midcap space, he likes Persistent and NIIT Tech. Among other sector, Shah is bullish on the print media space.

However, Shah is not so upbeat about the banking sector's chances of outperforming hereon. ''We may not see the same rally in banks as in the last few months,'' he told CNBC-TV18's Sonia Shenoy and Latha Venkatesh. He says the Nayak panel recommendations and bond yield moves helped banking stocks rally.

It is another record breaking day after some correction seen yesterday. The Nifty has hit 7700, up 41.50 points and now at 7697.90. The Sensex is up 148.28 points at 25731.97.  About 1958 shares have advanced, 660 shares declined, and 67 shares are unchanged.

Infosys, SBI, GAIL, Hero MotoCorp, and Wipro are major gainers lending strength to the indices while heavyweights like HUL, ITC and HDFC are among laggards in the Sensex.

Rupee is steady-to-marginally lower in the absence of concrete global cues. Dollar demand from oil importers may weigh slightly but likely dollar sales by foreign banks may support.

Gilts is down as market players cut positions due to lack of FII participation in the market. Caution ahead of the release of May CPI inflation data also keeps dealers on the sidelines.

Brent traded firm close to levels of USD 110 per barrel. Gold prices rose for the second consecutive session touching two-week highs.

Asian markets are mixed with Japan rebounding. Sentiment took a hit as the World Bank said that the global economy is expected grow 2.8 percent this year lower than the prior forecast of 3.2 percent.

10:55am Market Update
Equity benchmarks are trading at record highs with the Sensex rising 144.45 points to 25728.14. The Nifty is inching towards 7700, up 40.15 points at 7696.55 while Bank Nifty jumped 220 points to 15647. About 1925 shares have advanced, 655 shares declined, and 60 shares are unchanged.

10:45am Gainers and Losers
Infosys topped the buying list, rising 5 percent followed by GAIL, Wipro, Cipla and SBI with 2 percent while Sesa Sterlite, HDFC, HUL, ITC, Larsen & Toubro and NMDC lost 1-2 percent.

10:40am Interview
Deepak Narang, ED, United Bank of India says the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted bank to lend up to Rs 200 crore to AAA rated public sector undertaking (PSU) or corporate, but with the provision that certificate of deposits (CDs) ratio should not go beyond 70 percent, capital to risk assets ratio (CRAR) should not fall below 9 percent as of June 30, 2014.

Earlier the Kolkata-based public sector bank was barred from lending more than Rs 10 crore to any single borrower late last year after its bad loans rose to a record high and capital adequacy fell to 9 percent.

10:30am FY15 divestment plan
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has approved divestment plan for FY15, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. It is learnt that Interim Budget divestment target kept unchanged at Rs 36,925 crore in FY15, wherein power, coal, steel and oil & gas are key sectors for divestment.

Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) IPO is likely in FY15 while 10 percent divestment is likely in Coal India, SAIL, Container Corporation, SJVN, NHPC and MOIL, say sources.

10:20am Idea Cellular in focus
The telecom company will issue 5.18 crore preference shares to Axiata Investments at Rs 144.68 per share. It is planning to raise Rs 750 crore via preferential issue.

''The board approved making of issuance of upto 5,18,38,540 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a price of Rs 144.68 per equity share aggregating to approximately Rs 750 crore, on a preferential basis to Axiata Investments 2 (India) Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad, Malaysia),'' it said in a statement.

Axiata Investments currently holds 19.89 percent stake in Idea Cellular.

Meanwhile, the Aditya Birla group owned company also raised Rs 3,000 crore via QIP at Rs 134 per share.

10:10am FII View
Ridham Desai, Morgan Stanley says given the backdrop of a cyclical recovery, the brokerage house expects earnings growth to stabilise in the coming quarters. However, it does not expect a v-shaped recovery in the foreseeable future, he adds.

''We expect Sensex earnings growth of 13.5 percent in 2015 and 16.9 percent in 2016. Broad market earnings growth will likely be weaker than Sensex earnings at 8.7 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, but considerably better than recent trends,'' Desai says.

10:00am Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate in morning trade with the Sensex hovering around 25600 level. The index rose 40.35 points to 25624.04 and the Nifty advanced 12.45 points to 7668.85.

The broader markets rebounded with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. About three shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE.

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (up 12 percent), State Bank of Mysore (up 15 percent) and State Bank of Travancore (up 8 percent) saw buying interest as report suggests that State Bank of India will merge five subsidiaries with itself.

9:55 am Stake sale: Engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) proposes to sell as much as a 1.6 percent stake in its financial services unit L&T Finance for about Rs 204 crore.

L&T is making an offer for sale (OFS) for 16,551,447 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each, constituting 0.96 percent of the capital of the company, it said in a BSE filing.

In addition, L&T said it may choose to sell up to 11,034,297 equity shares representing a 0.64 percent stake in L&T Finance. The floor price in the offer has been set at Rs 74 a share.

9:46 am Sensex back to life! After a short glitch, BSE Sensex and stock value is getting updated now. The Sensex is up 25.56 points at 25609.25 and the Nifty is up 6.55 points or at 7662.95. About 1566 shares have advanced, 530 shares declined, and 53 shares are unchanged.

Infosys is up 5 percent while Wipro, Cipla, SBI and GAil are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sesa Sterlite, HDFC, HUL, Bajaj Auto and L&T.

9:40 am FII view: Ridham Desai, Morgan Stanley says given the backdrop of a cyclical recovery, the brokerage house expects earnings growth to stabilise in the coming quarters. However, it does not expect a v-shaped recovery in the foreseeable future, he adds.

''We expect Sensex earnings growth of 13.5 percent in 2015 and 16.9 percent in 2016. Broad market earnings growth will likely be weaker than Sensex earnings at 8.7 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, but considerably better than recent trends,'' Desai says.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Idea Cellular gained over 2 percent intraday. The telecom company will issue 5.18 crore preferential shares to Axiata Investments at Rs 144.68 per share. It is planning to raise Rs 750 crore via preferential issue.

''The board approved making of issuance of upto 5,18,38,540 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a price of Rs. 144.68 per equity share aggregating to approx Rs 750 crore, on a preferential basis to Axiata Investments 2 (India) Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad, Malaysia),'' it said in a statement.

Axiata Investments currently holds 19.89 percent stake in Idea Cellular.

The market has opened on a flat note. The Nifty is at 7645.10, down 10 points. Sensex rates not updating due to technical glitch.

Grasim, Infosys, Sun Pharma, SBI and Tech Mahindra are top gainers in the Nifty while HDFC, Reliance L&T, HUL and ICICI Bank are major losers.

The Indian rupee has opened lower at 59.32 per dollar as against previous day's closing value of 59.29 a dollar.The dollar continued to see a bump up with the benchmark index slowly inching towards the 81 mark.

The Reserve Bank was a net purchaser of dollars in the first month of the current fiscal after it bought USD 5.87 billion from the spot market. During the month, the central bank purchased USD 7.85 billion from the market and it sold USD 1.98 billion, according to RBI data released today.

US markets paused as investors took stock of valuations. Dow recovered to seek out minor gains. Meanwhile, Europe continued to add to the gains on ECB induced optimism. Asia is trading mixed this morning.

In commodities, Brent failed to rally much beyond the USD 110 mark, ending the day with a minor cut.

However, precious metals saw a decent comeback with gold managing to rise above 1260 per ounce for the first time in 2 weeks while platinum and palladium rallied nearly 2 percent.